Ever thought about what your odds actually are when you play the lotto? Well, with tonight’s US Powerball jackpot sitting at $236 million, here’s a little insight on what your odds are.

If you’re vying for the biggest lotteries in the world, along with millions of players across the globe, your odds get slimmer depending on the lotto and the jackpot at the time.

According to an article published on www.stuff.co.nz the odds of someone winning the lottery are astronomical, or one in 292 million if that helps.

But did you know that you have a much higher chance of winning tonight’s Powerball jackpot than being alive.

According to research the odds of you being born is roughly one in 10^2 685 000 - that's 1 in 10 followed by 2 685 000 zeroes.

That means that sitting right where you are, you’re technically a miracle and winning the lottery, actually isn’t.

The numbers don’t lie

Although, statistically, every ball has an equal chance of showing up, research suggests that the game has favoured some numbers more than others.

While the Powerball drawing is random, a statistician by the name of Dr. Min Su Kim, shows a pattern which may just increase your chances of winning.

The pattern was discovered after close examination of Powerball winning numbers over a period of ten years.

The Powerball drawing consists of five white balls and one red Powerball. Dr. Min Su Kim, who teaches Statistics at Southern University, went back 10 years and found the top 5 numbers that have won millions of dollars for thousands of people.

Dr. Kim, it was reported, discovered that the most frequently drawn Powerball number for the past 10 years is number 20 and is followed by 37, 2, 31, and 35.

For those white balls, the most popular is number 42, followed by 16, 35, 26, and 19.

Since the change of the rules in 2012, other studies have drawn their own conclusions with regards to the most frequent numbers drawn.

According to some, the Powerball numbers which are supposedly overdue are 3, 24, 51, 8 and 23.

But hey, these aren’t set in stone because any number that hasn’t been chosen in a while stands no greater chance of being drawn in the future.

The ball is in your court, so to speak. But with a game that has sky-high odds, a little science, will only add to the joy of playing.

Whether you play the US Powerball, SuperEnaLotto or Mega Millions with intuition, strategy or the love of the game, every so often one player defies the odds and walks away with a life changing jackpot!

Every day you get the opportunity to defy the odds when you buy a ticket from FatCatLottos.com. Will the odds be in your favour with tonight’s Powerball draw? I guess time will tell.